A chronological list of books-fiction, non-fiction, science, comics, whatever - I recently read, starting from 2008. (If you are wondering about the missing reviews, I am lazy. But hopefully they should appear, sooner or later)
2010
- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
- Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
- Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
- The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Probably the strangest book I have managed to finish. The story revolves around an un-employed guy whose life takes a turn for the weird when his cat goes missing. A mishmash of mysticism, historical accounts and suspense, it has numerous threads running through. But it in the end, blame it on my limited intelligence, I failed to make the connection and was left a bit unsatisfied. Overall, turned out to be an interesting read without making a whole lot of underlying sense.
- Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Based loosely on his life while being on the run from law, Gregory David Roberts has cast a very philosophical and romantic rendition of himself in "Linbaba" and his time in Bombay. The sheer range of his adventures, featuring Bombay slums, Mafia and even the Afghan Mujahideen, alone could have made it an absorbing read, but the metaphysical and philosophical nature of discussions between the characters, and Lin's own insight give the book an additional dimension. A bit overcooked at times, nevertheless a great piece of prose, to which I am uncertain if the Johnny Depp-starring movie will do much justice.
2009
- Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry
- The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
- The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
- AIDS Sutra: Untold Stories from India
- Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
- Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages, 1985-1995 by Bill Watterson
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
After so much hype, the book turned out to be quite a banal affair. Despite beginning with an interesting pick of an autistic teenager as the narrator and a murder mystery (check and check), the "turn of events" is very very "un-curious" and apart from providing a few glimpses in how an autistic mind works, for me, the book falls, and I recommend watching Rain Man instead.
- In spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India by Edward Luce
A compelling and often amusing take on the paradox that is India, with its 2nd fastest growing economy and 40% of world's malnourished children, and much more. The author provides a very well-researched and deep insight into what exactly has worked for India, and what hasn't, over the last 60 yrs of independence, while also discussing the promises and the challenges that we face as a country and a society in the 21st century. Though I didn't completely agree with some of the arguments put forward towards the end, this is definitely one of the few books I'd endorse as a Must read!
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
A delightfully written book, its a story of an obese, unbelievably nerdy ghetto kid from Dominican Republic, living in New Jersey with a family with history. The narrative often changes focus from Oscar, trying to navigate through life with his hopelessly, slippery heart and role-playing games, to Lola, the strong-willed, elder sister, to Beli, the enduring mother. The flashbacks to DR in the times of Raphael Trujillo are particularly fascinating and at some level, a bit disconcerting. Liberally peppered with spanish, I'll definitely read it once more when I fulfill my last year's resolution of learning Espanol.
- Avenger by Frederick Forsyth
- From Heaven Lake by Vikram Seth
2008
- Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
- On The Road by Jack Kerouac
- The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
- Such A Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
- One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
- The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson
- The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
- To kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
- A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
- Making the Minister Smile by Anurag Mathur
After The Inscrutable Americans , I had a lot of hopes from Anurag Mathur in his next book, which were brutally smashed and shattered. The plot, about a football-playing Yankee, coming to India for a business venture on his Dad's behest, and getting a taste of the desi-version of culture shock and the world-famous Indian Bureaucracy, had a lot of potential. But Mr. Mathur, in his zeal to go one-up with Hitchcock, has tried to insert numerous twists and turns, if one could call them that. After getting my curiosity piqued initially, I end up pulling my hair out of frustration. Must say, I am mighty disappointed at the time wasted, both by me and Mr Mathur.
- Two Lives by Vikram Seth
A well-researched biography about two of his relatives who took him in during his stay in London. Through this memoir, Seth entails a journey through the lives of Uncle Shanti, an Indian-born dentist, and his wife Aunty Henny, a German Jew, who met each other in Berlin during the turbulent times of World War II. While building upon Shanti's interviews, his most gripping material comes from the correspondence between Henny and her acquaintances during and after the War. While, at times quite slow, the narrative provides an interesting glimpse of those times as reflected in the lives of the Seths, and Vikram Seth's own perspective about things is fresh and sometimes, unsettling.
- The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
A book that finally puts to rest the debate about the genuineness of blurbs. Based on a very promising subject - a five-hundred
year old mysterious text, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, it devolves into a high-school novel about relationships. Except the bit
about the text, rest of the novel is needless and boring and ,what we call in Hindi, Pakau.
- Sirens of Baghdad by Yasmin Khadra
Set in the post-Saddam, strife-torn Iraq, the book describes the journey of a young man from a sleepy village untouched by
American Invasion until now. Consumed by vengeance, he lands up in Baghdad and is taken up by the fidayeen. The strength of the book is
neither its typical plot, nor its characters, but the setting. The first half of the book, where the life in the Iraqi village and the most dangerous
city in the world, Baghdad, is described, is what that captured my interest the most. The book loses steam later on, but ends in an expected yet
delicately-put way.
- Maximum City by Suketu Mehta
- The Gathering by Anne Enright
Story about a large family gathered for the funeral of one its sons, its nicely written, but too vague and uneventful.
There is hardly any script. One to be avoided, unless you are studying literature on a graduate level.
- The 5th Miracle by Paul Davies
Paul Davies provides a comprehensive and interesting outlook on the theories circling the origin of life.
A plethora of approaches are explored, analysed and debated, building up from the definition of life to evolution.
Gets a little too specific for people with no background in biochemistry, but all in all, an absorbing read.
- 1984 by George Orwell
Finally got my hands on it. A brilliant satire on totalitarianism, though much harsher than Animal Farm. A classic and a must-read!
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini